Ritchie, Manson lead Ducks past slumping Bruins, 4-2

Ritchie, Manson lead Ducks past slumping Bruins, 4-2

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Kevin Roy and Josh Manson played their college hockey in Boston at Northeastern, and the Anaheim Ducks' two Huskies couldn't deny an extra jump in their stride when they got the chance to hurt the Bruins with big goals.

Nick Ritchie and Manson had a goal and an assist apiece, and Roy scored his first NHL goal in the Ducks' 4-2 victory over slumping Boston on Wednesday night.

Roy played four seasons at Northeastern before turning pro last year. He opened the scoring with his first goal in his third NHL game, slipping into the slot and swatting in a loose puck.

Before the game, Manson said he predicted Roy would get his big goal against the Bruins.

"Playing Boston, I knew he would bring his A game," Manson said. "It was awesome. I couldn't be more happy for him. He's worked really hard. I've seen the progress through college. He's a goal scorer. It's the first of many."

Roy acknowledged "a little extra motivation" in facing the Bruins. He triumphantly displayed the puck for a team photographer in the dressing room afterward.

"I didn't see it (go in)," Roy said. "I just heard the noise and saw the players around me. It just felt awesome. It's a moment you dream of. Getting the first one is pretty special."

John Gibson made 39 saves and Antoine Vermette had an assist in his 1,000th NHL appearance as the Ducks won for just the second time in seven games. Derek Grant also scored in Anaheim's eighth consecutive win over the Bruins.

Danton Heinen and Noel Acciari scored and Tuukka Rask stopped 23 shots for the Bruins, who opened their California road swing with their fourth consecutive loss. Boston had defensive breakdowns, but also couldn't seem to catch a fortunate bounce at Honda Center.

"They were all kind of broken plays, deflections, so they're all frustrating," Rask said. "We played a decent second period, and we still got down."

Anaheim had only three shots on goal in the second, but scored twice while taking control of just its fifth win in 12 home games.

Several minutes after Heinen tied it midway through the period with a nifty backhand for his third career goal, Manson alertly flung the puck toward Boston's crease while skating into the corner. The puck ricocheted off Zdeno Chara's skate for Manson's first goal since March 26.

Ritchie then scored his first goal since Oct. 24, tipping home a pass from Vermette shortly before intermission. The power forward had his first multi-point performance since March 28.

Major early-season injury problems have reduced Anaheim and Boston to patchwork replicas of their once-impressive rosters. The remaining Ducks are handling those absences better lately than the Bruins, who have scored more than two goals only twice in their last 10 games.

"I'm not going to use that as an excuse," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We've got some young players up front, we know that, but at the back end and our goaltending, there is experience there."

The Bruins played without key forwards Brad Marchand and Anders Bjork, who both stayed home in Boston with undisclosed injuries. They've been ruled out for Thursday's game in Los Angeles as well.

NOTES: Boston played a penalty-free game, and Anaheim didn't commit a penalty until 9:08 remained. ... Vermette is the 17th active skater to reach 1,000 games. ... Bruins forward Matt Beleskey remained scoreless in 13 games this season. The Ducks product signed a $19.8 million, five-year deal with Boston as a free agent in 2015, but has been unable to recapture his goal-scoring form from his final year in Anaheim, when he got 22 regular-season goals and eight more in the playoffs. ... Anaheim dressed seven defensemen against Boston, but Korbinian Holzer played right wing on the fourth line.

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Backes ready to give Bruins his best, something they need

Backes ready to give Bruins his best, something they need

The first couple of seasons with David Backes in a Boston Bruins uniform were supposed to be his best when he signed a couple of summers ago.

Backes was a 32-year-old signing a five-year contract with the Bruins that was a big commitment to a new organization after spending his entire pro hockey career with the St. Louis Blues. At the same time, it was also a significant investment by the Original Six team in an aging, big-bodied forward that would presumably provide size, strength, leadership and an alpha dog personality as he entered hockey middle age.

Conventional wisdom was that the B’s would yield enough out of Backes in the first few years, while he was still lingering on the back end of his prime, to make up for an aging high-impact player likely to be slowing down in the last few years of the deal all while carrying a significant $6 million per season salary cap hit.

Instead, Backes has missed time with inflamed bursa sacs in his elbow and a couple of bouts with diverticulitis in his first two seasons, and he’s posted 19 goals and 42 points along with a minus-1 rating in 84 games. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, of course, but it’s also not quite up to the standard Backes established as a longtime captain in St. Louis. Certainly not up to the 25 goals and 53 points of production that Backes averaged in his final three seasons with the Blues, and probably not what the B’s were hoping for when they signed him.

Some of that was Backes’ injuries and coming in and out of the lineup a few times over the course of a season. Some of it was certainly adjusting to a new city, a new organization and a new roomful of teammates. With Backes back and in the flow of things after diverticulitis surgery in October that removed 10 inches of his colon, now is the time for the 33-year-old to step up and produce in the way Boston expected in his first few golden years with the Bruins.

Backes has done that recently with a two-goal game against the Arizona Coyotes last week, and three points and 10 shots on net in his last three games while lining up with Danton Heinen and Riley Nash in a pretty well-balanced third line. He is finally heating up and providing some secondary offense, and some consistency from Backes could really be a game-changer for the Bruins.

“David has scored goals in this league, either 15 to 20, 22, 23, whatever the average number is every year,” said Bruce Cassidy. “We kind of found out at the end of [last year] at what he truly excelled at. I thought he did a really good job with Bergy and Marchy too, but moving him down allows better balance in our lineup.

“I think he enjoys being a mentor to Danton [Heinen] and to a certain degree [Riley] Nash, and it allows him to play his style of game where he has the most success. As long as it meshes with the way that we want to play, then we’re all happy. We’re seeing those results now, and as long as it stays that way we can focus on other things like who fits well with [David] Krejci.”

It would appear the stars are now aligned for Backes to be that high-impact player that can shoulder some of the heavy burden that high-end forwards Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Krejci have been carrying for the last couple of seasons. He can do that while headlining a third line that should be able to support everything that the top-6 guys are doing, and pick them up when they’re experiencing the rare quiet night.

“I think David [Backes] is the leader in terms of how he wants that style of line to play. I think we talked about that at the start of the year…trying to find a way to build a line around him. Now we are starting to see that. That’s the type of line he wants, and now we have the pieces in-house here that are now starting to fit. It took us a while for different reasons – injuries or trying to find the right chemistry,” said Bruce Cassidy. “It looks like it’s falling into place. And I think the other guys are willing to do that as well. It’s one thing for him to ask [a line] to play a certain way if the players aren’t receptive to it. It’s like anything [when you’re acting as] a teacher.

“If the students aren’t willing to learn, it’s going to be tough. I think Danton Heinen wants to stay in this league. He’ll stay any way he can. Now he’s recognizing how to stay in it, early on with the [Sean] Kuraly, [Tim] Schaller and now you’re starting to see what he can bring to a line offensively. He’s certainly a good student, and [Riley] Nash, that’s his game. It complements him as well.”

The attitude of the Bruins is palpable when Backes is in the lineup whether he’s scoring, or simply carving out a big space and throwing some board-rattling hits at the opposition. He gives the Bruins a more courageous attitude by virtue of his toughness and a willingness to back up his words with action when it’s warranted.

It’s no surprise that he finds the silver lining to the adversity he’s faced in the last two seasons, and ways in which it can help the team.

“It’s kind of the way things go. You’re not going to have a perfect road ahead of you,” said Backes. “That’s kind of been the story for the team as well where it’s been fits and starts, injuries and obstacles where we’ve had to build some character and resolve with the group, and an identity that can be very tough to play against as we go on.

“I’ve heard from more than a few guys on other teams that [they think] we’re going to be a tough team to play against going down the stretch.”

The same can hopefully be said for Backes as well. The expectation is that the big winger will get even better, more productive and more difficult to play against as he grows stronger and gets a chance to put together the best hockey of his Bruins career.

It’s what the Bruins have expected from Day One, and what Backes seems finally ready to supply after passing through all the challenges that have faced him since signing in Boston a couple of summers ago.

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Morning Skate: Karlsson on his way out in Ottawa?

Morning Skate: Karlsson on his way out in Ottawa?

Here are all the links from around the hockey world, and what I’m reading while the reviews from the Last Jedi start pouring in.

-- USA Today takes an early look at the expected 2018 NHL free-agent class, which will be pretty good with players like John Carlson, James van Riemsdyk and John Tavares leading the way. But take a look at 2019: Tyler Seguin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty. That’s the class that NHL teams should be saving their rainy day funds for.

-- For something completely different: As the review pour in, here is a spoiler-free Last Jedi review from FOH (Friend of Haggs) Rich Shirtenlieb after he was able to get into a sneak preview earlier this week.